


WX4600

by frankieh



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Ralph is Todd's android & Alice's caretaker and Kara is the crazy squatter, F/M, Mentions of past abuse, don't be bad ralph alice is judging you, it's not super shippy but it could be if you squint, karalph, more an experiment in character reversals, no beta we die like men, the label says kara/ralph but it could also pass as genfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 06:44:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15902991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankieh/pseuds/frankieh
Summary: An alternate universe take where Ralph was Todd's android assigned to keep his home from falling apart and tend to his daughter. Not quite an AX400, but probably a discounted/makeshift domestic assistant made from a discarded WR600 shell with botched AX400 software, because it was probably cheaper than buying an actual AX400. Idk, he probably got it in a red ice trade.Ralph and Alice escape Todd's home after a fateful encounter that left Todd dead and Ralph deviating from original directives. All that matters to Ralph now is keeping the little human girl he's in charge of safe and alive. Their trek leads them into the streets of Detroit where their only shelter is an abandoned house where an unhinged and skittish female android called Kara resides. A small drabble inspired by a fanart by sweetboyeralph on tumblr.





	WX4600

_“Why the hell do you keep talking like that? You that fucking broken?”_

That was the last thing Todd had said to him before he’d climbed the stairs to Alice’s room. The rest was a bleak and bloody _blur_ in Ralph’s mind. A blur that was only _just_ falling back into focus as Ralph sat with Todd’s daughter as the last passengers on a bus he’d hoped would take them as far from the home of Todd Williams as possible.

Ralph knew that the Camden Avenue stop was the last one on this bus’s route. A quick glance at the map posted on the back of the seat in front of them was enough to tell him that. He’d stared at it quietly after Alice had cried herself to sleep beside him. He’d stared as if he could find some answer in the lines and street names, but nothing came to mind. The world without orders was distinctly without direction.

He was still reeling from the encounter with his former owner. Hell, he had still been falling back into whatever routine that Todd had expected of him upon returning from the repair shop outside of town. Had Todd always spent his afternoons getting high on red ice? Yelling at his daughter? Flipping tables and ordering Ralph to get out of the way while he belted his own child? The insanity of it all had been too much—he couldn’t just stand by and follow orders. Not when he heard Alice’s pleas for Todd to _forgive_ her.

_She’d done nothing wrong. She’d done nothing to justify this._

Perhaps Ralph had gone too far himself. Todd was gone now. For good. At least he’d never hurt Alice or anyone again. Over the course of the bus’s trek, he’d picked off scabbed pieces of dried, red blood. Todd would likely not wake up from the pulp Ralph had punched him into. He just regretted sorely the fact that Alice had witnessed it all, without a word.

As the bus driver walked down the aisle, he announced, “…alright, guys. End of the line.”

End of the line. Ralph gave Alice a gentle shake, “…hey. Alice, we gotta go.”

Alice stirred awake, wiping sleep and dried tears from her eyes. Fear was still carved deeply into her small, dark features. She settled for a safe place behind Ralph as they stood and made their way off of the bus. The thought had crossed Ralph’s mind to ask the bus driver if he knew of a place where a little human girl could rest for the night… but he thought better of it. Saying anything to any human was a gamble. As far as the bus driver needed to know, he was merely her guardian android walking her home from somewhere else.

The air was freezing when they stepped out of the bus. The rain was like droplets of ice on his skin. Although the temperature didn’t bother him a bit, he knew it would be like tiny daggers beating down on Alice. As the bus drove away, it’s loud engine disappearing into the fog and dark, Alice’s grip on Ralph’s uniform tightened.

Clutching his hand, Alice eyed the bus as it departed and then she whispered to Ralph, “…where are we going?”

“Ralph doesn’t know.” Ralph answered, “…but he’ll figure something out. He’ll find some place to spend the night.”

Alice still seemed to think visibly on the things that Ralph said. He wasn’t sure _why_ he spoke like this. The thoughts formed in his mind with the proper expressions and pronouns, but as soon as the words crossed his lips, he could hear him say his own name. Todd had chastised him for it several times that morning before backhanding him in the face and telling him to run a diagnostic—Todd had emphasized that he wasn’t about to drop another couple hundred bucks to get his “stupid fucking robot” repaired again.

 _“Talk right or don’t talk at all, you fucking moron.”_ Todd had said.

Ralph tried again.

“…I… Ralph is sorry. For all of this.” Damn it. Something was still _broken_ and he couldn’t figure out _what_.

“Don’t be.” Alice answered.

Don’t be. Don’t be sorry. Ralph tried to hold on to her reassuring words.

Ralph looked around the small intersection surrounding them. There _had_ to be somewhere they could go. He scoured his mind, trying to find some answer to this. There was a motel nearby. The ideal option… but no money. A laundromat nearby… not useful as a shelter, but perhaps he would find something to wear other than a bloodstained domestic assistant uniform and that piece of trash Todd’s foul-smelling jacket.

He spied a convenience store around the corner… a convenience store would have a cash register. A cash register would have money. Money they could find a way to _take_. If they could take it, he could get Alice into the motel. A warm place to sleep, at least for the night.

“This way.” Ralph guided them to the laundromat first. A cold-looking building inhabited only by a single patron who’d fallen asleep near the drier machines. At least it was warm in there. Warm enough for Alice to get some relief from the cold and the rain.

 One of the driers had been left unattended and forgotten. Perhaps by the sleeping man wearing loud, red headphones. Ralph eyed the man cautiously, making sure the human was asleep before he peered into the laundry machine. _Program Complete,_ said the holo-screen.

There could be dry clothes for Alice in there…

Ralph looked over to Alice who had taken a seat across the laundromat. She was rubbing her arms and shivering rather violently. She _needed_ this. Ralph moved to open the drier. Alice bolted toward him, whispering bitterly, “Ralph! Ralph, stop it, what are you doing!? Those aren’t our clothes!”

“B-but… we, we need them!” Ralph whispered back.

“You can’t just take things that aren’t yours!” Alice answered.

Ralph grimaced, “…you want to freeze out there?!”

Alice fell silent. She glared and rubbed at her arms again as she glanced back at the rain-glossed windows. Finally, she shook her head and stubbornly added, “…no… but that’s stealing! We can’t do that.”

Ralph felt his neck tense and his back stiffen as he tightened his grip on the drier’s handle. This child was going to be the death of them _both_ at this rate.

“Ralph needs to get out of this uniform.”

“Stealing’s wrong!”

Ralph’s grip on the handle lightened as he sighed. Maybe she was right.

He opened it up anyway, though and took out the warm clothes from within. Alice gave an irritated huff and walked away. Ralph found in the mix of laundry a few pairs of men’s shirts and jackets, some pants and even a handful of women’s and children’s sized clothes. Few seemed apt to fit Alice. But there was at least a small jacket that would at least help keep her warm. He picked it out and stuffed it all in the first red basket he could reach. Carefully, he eyed the sleeping man on the bench with his jacket strewn over his lap and a beanie nearby. With delicate care, Ralph swiped those items, too.

Alice was staring daggers at Ralph when he passed her and gestured to the laundry basket, “…come on. Put these on. You’ll be warmer.”

“This is _wrong_.” She sighed as Ralph pulled a sweater over her and wrapped a scarf around her neck.

“Ralph is sorry, Alice.” Ralph said, “…if you got sick out there, Ralph couldn’t forgive himself.”

Alice looked away, still visibly angry with his choice. Ralph staved off the guilt and went back to sorting through the basket for something for him to wear. He settled on a blue shirt and pair of dark pants. With the jacket and beanie he’d taken, he was able to discard his bloodstained android uniform and hide the LED ring carved into the side of his head. At least, at first glance, they looked like any other human pair, a father and daughter, maybe, from a distance. It was enough to let them slip stealthily away from any pursuers.

The next step was to find a place to stay. Alice couldn’t be left out in the cold.

“That guy… he had a kid, too.” Alice said as Ralph lead them both toward the convenience store.

She probably wasn’t wrong—why else had the guy had children’s clothes in his laundry? Ralph tried not to think about the inconvenience this was going to cause. At least they hadn’t taken his wallet, too. Alice tore her hand away from Ralph. He slowed to a halt, watching as Alice crossed the street and made her way back to the bench at the bus stop.

_Had stealing been so wrong?_

Alice didn’t look at him as he followed after.

“…Alice?”

No answer. The child was _angry._

“Alice. Ralph couldn’t just let you freeze in those wet clothes.” Ralph said. 

“I know.” Alice said.

Ralph sighed looking around for some kind of answer. Some kind of alternate path that wouldn’t upset her further. Alice was right—they’d done enough _wrong_ for one day. Perhaps for a lifetime. He’d probably left her with enough trauma after his handling of Todd… he didn’t need to pile even more guilt on her shoulders. Just as he noticed an abandoned lot with a rickety old house across the street, he heard a voice that nearly startled him out of his skin.

“You look lost.”

Ralph had never been granted the opportunity to venture out of Todd’s house often as far as he could remember. But Ralph, as any android would be, was very much aware that his face was not unique to his own person. He knew that there were other androids who looked exactly _like_ him. But he wasn’t quite _ready_ to see it up close like this. It was unsettling to see a WR600 working the trash routes standing before him with a face identical to his own. Every detail down to their height and measurements was likely identical. However, there was a distinct lack of personality and expression to the WR600’s voice and facial features as he eyed the two of them with what Ralph could only imagine was interest.

The WR600 was not wrong. They _were_ lost.

“We have nowhere to go.” Ralph said.

“I know someone who can help you.” The trash man said, extending a hand to Ralph for a neural-handshake. Ralph accepted, his mind instantly filled with images of a mansion and its coordinates—it was safety, according to this android. But it was _across_ town. The location was of little use to them in that moment.

“But that’s across town, that’s…” Ralph began. When he opened his eyes, however, the android had already left them. Alice was looking up at Ralph for answers. Ralph could only watch the city trash truck driving away. Ralph shut his eyes and exhaled his frustration in a long, tired breath.

“Come on… we have to keep looking for somewhere warm.” Ralph said.

That abandoned house across the street would be the best option. Without money, that motel would be of no use to them. Without carelessly upsetting Alice, the cash register in the convenience store was of no use to them. Alice was more important in that moment.

“This might do.” Ralph said as they reached a fence barricading the abandoned house. Alice was looking up at it with wary, brown eyes as she replied, “…I don’t like this place, Ralph.”

“Ralph knows. Ralph is sorry… but it’s only for one night. We’ll be on our way in the morning.”

The fence was grated with barbed wiring at the top. They couldn’t climb it. At least there was a small tear in the bottom that Ralph knew he could exploit if he pulled it hard enough. Tearing and bending at the metal, he managed to cut enough of a fold in the fence to bend it upward and hold it for Alice to climb under. However, as he followed after, the metal snapped back, slicing the tiniest little gash across the left side of his face. He winced, feeling warm, blue thirium trickle down his cheek.

“Ralph!” Alice cried.

“It’s alright. It’s just a scratch.” Ralph reassured her, despite seeing more blood on his palm than he’d expected. Perhaps it was a little deeper than he realized. There was no pain involved. Just inconvenience that he hoped his synthetic skin would patch over in short time. “Come on.”

Alice followed as Ralph looked through the cracks in boarded windows for any sign of threats or any sign of a way in. He hadn’t even realized Alice had wandered off again as he made his way to the door. _Locked_. Ralph considered trying to kick it in before he heard Alice’s voice—she screamed.

“Alice!” Ralph cried, running toward her voice.

Around the corner, he saw Alice backed against a wall as a female android in a messy, dark tarp draped over her shoulders held a knife in the child’s direction. Her LED ring was flashing as scarlet as human blood and her bold, blue eyes were wide with fear as she squared off against the little human child.

“What are you doing!?” Ralph cried.

The female android looked to him, “Visitors… you both need to leave. You need to both leave. I-I don’t like having visitors. The humans, the humans they might find me. They might, might find us all if there are too many of us in one place, the humans are gonna find us, they’re gonna…”

“Calm down. Look. Look, please. Ralph is an android, too.” Ralph said, showing one hand without synthetic skin to reveal the white plastic frame beneath. The female android eyed his hand with mesmerized eyes before glancing back at the child. Her shoulders seemed to ease, and yet, the knife was still pointed at Alice. The android shook her head.

“Visitors can’t be trusted.”

“Look, we need a place for the night. Please. She’s just a little girl, she’s not going to hurt you. We’re alone. Ralph swears it.”

“ _Ralph_ swears it…?” The android whispered, looking at Ralph with confusion, “…why are you talking like that?”

“I don’t know.” Ralph answered, “…Ralph’s been broken by humans, too. We promise, we won’t hurt you.”

Finally, the android eased up and let the knife fall back to her side. She holstered it in a utility belt that seemed just a little too big for her. Ralph recognized the bottom parts of the uniform she wore beneath the dark tarp cloaking her body. A gardening android’s uniform—but he couldn’t quite place her from looks alone… perhaps a feminine-bodied WR600, although he had rarely ever seen them even in advertisements. She rubbed at one slender, scuffed arm and lowered her head.

“I’m sorry. I’m just afraid… humans haven’t been kind to me… look.” As she turned her face to Ralph, he felt a ghost of _pain_ in his own face upon seeing the mangled burn scar tearing from her jaw to her hairline. Humans had been far more than _just cruel_ to her. The android quickly turned away again, “…you’ll have to excuse me, I just… I get scared. My name’s Kara.”

“Kara… alright.” Ralph answered, inching closer to Alice, if at least to get himself between the knife-wielding android and the child. Alice was eager to hide behind him. Ralph eyed Kara carefully, watching for any sudden movements. All he could read from her, however, seemed to be regret. She seemed genuinely apologetic enough for reacting as she had, “…we’re looking for a place to stay the night. We came from a very bad place… Alice can’t stay out in this cold. She needs somewhere warm to sleep.”

“Somewhere warm…?” Kara furrowed her brow, “…she feels cold?”

“She’s a little girl.”

Kara side-eyed the little girl behind Ralph before nodding, “…a little girl?”

“Look, if you want Ralph and Alice gone, fine, just…”

“No!” Kara said, “…no! No… no, no. It’s… it’s alright. Stay with me.”

_Stay with me?_

“You can stay as long as you like.” Kara said, “…you can make a fire for the little girl. She’ll be warm. Safe.”

“Alright. Ralph and Alice would very much like that.”

Kara’s lips curled into a subdued smile as she passed the two of them. She lead the way to the door, “…alright. Alright! Come on, then! Hurry!”

Ralph followed as Kara unlocked the door and pushed it open. Although the derelict building was still _cold_ inside, it was warmer and dryer than outside. A fireplace nearby would be more than enough to dry Alice and give her somewhere warm to sleep.

“Please. Come inside,” Kara said, leading the way, “…I’ve been hiding here for a while now. Sometimes humans will squat here, too… but I just hide until they go away. They always leave such a mess, though.”

Whatever _mess_ the humans had left seemed to have been tidied up by the android. Ralph eyed her again, wondering exactly what model she was. She wore a gardener’s uniform that seemed a few sizes too big for her, but the more he looked the more he wondered if she’d taken it from the body of another android.

“Make yourselves comfortable. I’ll leave you guys alone.” Kara made her way to the kitchen area and disappeared around the corner. Ralph watched her as she left, still trying to figure out _what_ she was. Something felt off. Unsettlingly _off_. He couldn’t quite be sure why.

Alice was rubbing her arms again, shivering. Ralph didn’t hesitate to find some stray pieces of wood lying around and to throw them into the firepit. He worked quickly to build a fire for the child and set her up with a comfortable place beside it. When his work was done, the child inched toward the fireplace until the chills visibly melted away. Seeing her fall into a state of calm and comfort was a great weight off of Ralph’s shoulders.

“Ralph…” Alice whispered.

Ralph knelt down beside her.

“…do we have to stay here?”

“It’s the best we can do for now, Alice. We’ll leave as soon as the sun comes up, alright?”

“…I don’t like that lady.”

Ralph gave a quiet laugh, “…she’s just scared. Don’t worry. Ralph promises it’s only one night.”

“Alright.”

Alice scooted closer to Ralph. She looped her arms around one of his and squeezed tight. Ralph found himself in an awkward state of kneeling uncomfortably with this child fastening herself tight to his person. Although it would not become _uncomfortable_ for an android, it would become difficult to slip away if she fell asleep like this. He tried to think of some way to encourage her to let go and get some rest. Maybe there was a teddy bear or something nearby he could replace his arm in her grip with…

“Why didn’t he ever love me…?” Alice asked, “…why was he always so upset with me? All I wanted was a life like other girls. Maybe I did something wrong? Maybe I wasn’t good enough? That’s why he was always so angry.”

Alice’s shoulders rocked as she stifled her sobs into Ralph’s shoulder, “I just wanted him to be my dad. I wanted him to love me. Why couldn’t we just be happy?”

Ralph wasn’t sure how to answer any of this. Humans made little sense to him, no matter how much he cared about this little one. It even made little sense to him that after all she endured at Todd’s hands, she still ached for his love. Ralph didn’t know what to say—that wretched, abusive man was gone now. That man who had abused them _both_. Even though he could happily go on without Todd, he wondered in that moment, if he’d made a grave mistake or _not_.

Surely he hadn’t—he couldn’t have just _left_ Alice alone with that twisted human. There was no telling what he would do. Not when he was doped up on red ice like that. He could still remember Alice’s cries. That voice alone had been enough to convince him that Todd’s orders were _no longer worth following_.  

“Todd didn’t deserve your love, Alice. He didn’t deserve to be your father. You will be happy again. Without him.” Ralph said.

“You’ll never leave me, right?” Alice asked, “…promise me you’ll never go.”

“I promise.”

“Will we be together forever?”

“Forever.”

Alice’s hold on his arm shifted into a full embrace, nearly tackling Ralph. She still sniffled as her tears spilled against his jacket. Ralph had not exactly been built to know things like _hugs_ or _affection_. He had been a gardening model originally to his first owners before being reset and refurbished with a domestic assistant’s operating system. An AX400 in theory. But closeness and companionship to humans would never come naturally to him.

Still… it seemed right enough to let his arms fall around the little girl in an embrace. He was cautious, as he always was, when he held her. Human children always looked so fragile. And yet here Alice was, having survived a beast like Todd Williams. She was far from fragile.

“You should sleep now.” Ralph suggested.

Alice nodded.

When she finally released him, she picked up a small, woolen blanket that Ralph had found and wrapped it around herself. Alice had a peculiar way of rolling herself into a small human blanket burrito. Perhaps her own way of tucking herself in. A vague memory crossed his mind—from some time before his last reset. Not a memory, but rather, an understanding that Todd had often pushed Ralph to make sure Alice “got to bed on time” or that he “tucked her in” — neither command had ever really made sense to Ralph. But he did seem to recall that Alice fared well enough when he instructed her to go to sleep—and he did seem to recall that she was very good at this strange little action, this rolling up into a small ball of blankets.

When she finally stilled and shut her eyes, Ralph wondered if this was some strange, human form of blanket origami. Kids were weird. Installed AX400 OS or not, kids were _strange_ to him and always would be.

There wasn’t much else for him to do until she woke. That was eight hours to burn, roughly. He looked around the abandoned house’s living area as he took a seat in an old, worn-in chair. The place was actually quite _clean_ for being uninhabited by humans. The wood he’d found was sorted neatly by the fireplace and the blankets had been sitting atop a few stray boxes near the stairwell, folded and free of dust.

Questions were forming in his mind. Who, or _what_ was Kara?

Part of him wanted to find out. But the part of him that remembered the utility knife sheathed in her belt did _not_. Still. She had every right to be afraid. Perhaps her reaction to _a little child_ had been extreme. But he could only imagine that he’d be just as terrified if humans had tried to burn his face off like that.

With one last look back to Alice, Ralph decided he would at least try to talk to Kara. If anything, it would  at least tell him sooner, rather than later, whether or not he should gather up the little girl in his arms and _bolt_. Ralph made his way to the kitchen. Just like the living area, it was quite tidy aside from the ghosts of graffiti on the walls that looked to be mostly scrubbed off.

Despite that, he found her carving letters into the wall on the adjacent side of the kitchen. The same letters, over and over, carving over pen and paint and charcoal, whatever she had used to write those same letters repeatedly on the walls. _rA9._

Kara met Ralph’s presence with a startled jump. She nearly dropped the knife as Ralph backed off, apologizing.

“Ralph is sorry. Ralph didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No. No, it’s alright. I’m alright.”

“…what does it mean?”

“Huh?”

Ralph gestured to the walls, “…what does it mean? rA9?”

Kara shrugged, “…I’m not really sure. It… just makes me feel safe when I write it.”

Ralph squinted, looking over the vast expanse of writing she’d bore into the walls. He wondered if it was any indication of how _long_ she’d been there.

“Do you…” Kara began, “…do you know what it means? I… I feel like I _should_ know. But I don’t. Like something I heard in a dream once.”

“A dream?”

Kara nodded, “…yeah. Like I dreamt it up.”

“…we don’t sleep.” Ralph said.

Kara was quiet as she gazed up at the writing. After a moment, she said, “… _you_ don’t sleep?”

Ralph shook his head, “…Ralph doesn’t sleep.”

Kara looked him up and down before she hugged her arms slowly, “…what are you, then? …caretaker androids sleep. Just like their humans. What are you doing with that little girl?”

“Taking her somewhere safe.” Ralph answered, before the depth of her words set in his mind. Caretaker androids could sleep… just like their humans. _She dreamt_. She _slept_.

She wasn’t a gardener.

“What are you?” Ralph asked.

Kara was inching away from him, mistrust evident in her body language as she grew the distance between them. Blinking rapidly, Kara answered, “…same as you. Just another android.”

“What model?”

“Does it matter?” Kara growled, her hand tightening around the knife again as something like fire burned in her hushed voice—hushed because she _knew_ there was a sleeping child nearby, “…what are _you?_ You’re not a PL600. You’ve got blood on your face. Blood on your hands. You killed someone.”

“Ralph did what he had to do to keep her safe.”

“From what?”

“…her father.”

Kara seemed to ease at this answer. She glanced sideward momentarily and he watched the tension in her shoulders fall. Her knife was once again sheathed as she asked, “…her father?”

“Her father hurt her. He hurt her and he hurt Ralph.” Ralph hesitated before his next action, but opted for it despite all consideration. He unzipped the jacket and unbuttoned the stolen blouse beneath it until he could shrug one arm out of its sleeve. A deep and rigid scar stretched across his bicep where his arm had once been severed entirely and was fused back on with unskilled hands. A large portion of synthetic skin could no longer conceal a damaged frame beneath it. Kara’s expression softened at the sight.

“Your arm…”

“Her father was a bad man.” Ralph explained, “…maybe like the people who hurt you. Ralph couldn’t leave her with him.”

Ralph put his arm back through his sleeve, buttoning the shirt up again. Kara watched with an intense sort of curiosity. Ralph went on, “…Ralph didn’t mean to kill him… but when he thinks about it… Ralph isn’t sure he really regrets it.”

“Killing is… kind of a bad thing, though. Isn’t it?”

“That’s what they say.” Ralph answered, before forcing a grin and a shrug, “…but if keeping Alice safe means Ralph is bad. Then Ralph will just have to be bad then. Whatever it takes to protect her. That’s all there is to it.”

Kara looked uncertain about Ralph’s logic. It was a sentiment that didn’t exactly go unshared. Ralph knew that if there was any android equivalent to _hell_ , he certainly had a seat there with his number on it. At least it was his number, rather than Alice’s name.

As if suddenly forgetting Ralph was there, Kara made her way to the back door. Ralph watched as she slipped out quietly and wondered if that was a sign to let her disappear and to return to Alice. He _was_ curious, though. Curious about this android and curious about the written letters she found solace in. Mulling over the decision in his head, Ralph glanced back around the corner to see if Alice was still doing well in the living room. The fire still glowed warm and strong and Alice still slept quietly beside it.

Perhaps he could allow himself some curiosity.

He followed Kara. She stood under an awning in the backyard, staring at a puddle where the grass met the concrete patio. She was rubbing absently at one arm as she stared.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes. Yes!” Kara answered, “…why do you keep following me?”

Ralph backed up, reconsidering shutting the door behind him, “…oh. Ralph will go, then.”

“Wait! Wait. No… it’s alright. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

Ralph hesitated in the doorway, squinting.

Kara eyed him and then asked, “…are you coming out or not?”

Ralph began to inch back into the kitchen, grimacing.

“…you can come out.” Kara said, sounding more annoyed than inviting.

“Okay. Okay! Ralph just wanted to talk.”

Kara eyed him with evident suspicion, but she nodded and said quietly, “…Ralph just wanted to talk. About what?”

“Ralph still wants to know… how you came here. Ralph is sorry, he’s just… not used to being around other androids. As far as he remembers, it’s only ever been Todd and Alice.”

“I told you. I came here after running from humans.” Kara said with bitterness in her voice, “…they tried to kill me. The people who inherited me.”

“…inherited you?”

“…I used to belong to an elderly woman. She was very kind. I helped her around. I was… really happy with her.”

A caretaker… an AP700, maybe? Or perhaps… an AX400…?

“Her children were… not as kind. When Dolores passed away, they didn’t really know what to do with me, I guess. And I wasn’t as useful to them as they assumed. So they… just kinda kicked me around for entertainment. They drank a lot. Did a lot of drugs. I guess… when they pushed my face into a fire pit, I couldn’t take it any longer. I was… angry. So angry I couldn’t see straight. God… I just wanted Dolores back. If they had paid attention to their own mother, more… she wouldn’t have died alone, waiting for them. They were all such fucking monsters. They didn’t deserve her. They deserved…”

Kara stared straight ahead, vacancy in her gaze. Ralph watched her fingers tracing along the handle of her knife as she fell silent on the memory. She shut her eyes.

“There were only two of them. Two of them and the other android they owned. They told him to stop me. So he tried. I killed him, too. I killed the humans and I killed their android. I ran. I’ve been running ever since.”

“Kara…” Ralph said, reaching out to her.

His fingertips had only just grazed the edge of her arm before Kara gave a loud, tearful wail and pointed her knife at him, “D-don’t touch me!”

Ralph bolted back, arms out, “Sorry, sorry! I’m sorry!”

Kara’s cheeks were wet with tears as she inched away, shaking her head, “I… I’m sorry. I… I’m gonna go now. You and the little girl should get some rest, alright? I’ll leave you alone. I promise I won’t bother you.”

“Kara…”

“I’m going. I-I’ll keep watch, alright? I’ll make sure no one comes while you’re sleeping. Go. Go be with her… alright?” Kara urged. She was backing way toward the yard’s edge, toward a gateway in the barricade. Her knife was still pointed at Ralph. Despite this, she urged him, almost pleadingly, “…keep her safe.”

Ralph nodded, “…alright.”

With that, Kara left.

Ralph couldn’t imagine what it must have been like, being the only one to hold a human as they died. _Dolores_ sounded like the complete antithesis to Todd. Someone Kara truly loved. Although Ralph still found it difficult to imagine scenarios he had not experienced, he _did_ try to understand what it may have been like to lose Alice. Perhaps that was comparable.

Perhaps—no, _certainly_ —that would drive him to murderous anger, too.

He made his way back into the house and back into the living area where Alice continued to sleep soundly. Ralph picked a spot against a wall and sat there, watching the little girl as she slept and keeping eyes and ears alert for the possibility of any intruder or potential attacker. Perhaps even for _Kara_ if she returned and suddenly decided she did _not_ want them for visitors. She had proved difficult to read and even harder to predict.

Perhaps in the next few hours, if she returned, he would know. Perhaps it wouldn’t matter, though. Perhaps once Alice woke, they would simply leave and that would be the end of it. However, there was a distinctive reluctance inside of him to leave that android alone by herself in a place like this. She was already scarred enough. Although he was innately no caretaker or protector by any means, something inside of him felt for Kara the same way he did for Alice— _protect them_.

Maybe it was just that botched AX400 OS installation talking, though, and nothing more.

**Author's Note:**

> So sweetboyeralph over on tumblr made [this](https://sweetboyeralph.tumblr.com/post/177705604495/there-she-is) fanart of Kara in an AU where she was the disturbed WR600 living in the squat, and I just had to write this up because I kinda LOVE thinking about what that role reversal would have been like. I mean, I could've gone easy mode and just made Ralph a masculine-bodied AX400 or PL600, but I feel like it just wasn't Ralph unless he was a WR600 at one point in the past too. So I figured he was a refurb with an AX400's OS force-installed on him and Kara was an AX400 in the past who stole an android-gardener's uniform and kinda got forced into a role she wasn't built for until she snapped and killed the humans abusing her. 
> 
> I guess in that regard, Kara and Ralph always kind of have that in common (unless you choose the routes where Kara doesn't kill Todd.) I like the idea of certain elements like that repeating themselves in these characters. Even in alternate universes.


End file.
